


Of Clueless Boys and College Crushes

by Loor



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Mutual Pining, clueless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-28
Updated: 2015-06-28
Packaged: 2018-04-06 14:53:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4226082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loor/pseuds/Loor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shy college freshman Harry Styles gets paired up with cool and confident Louis Tomlinson for a writing assignment. It takes a lot of subtle and not so subtle hints from their friends to realize they are the perfect pair.</p><p>Or, the one where Harry is clueless and Louis' gaydar is completely broken.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Clueless Boys and College Crushes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sirensongs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sirensongs/gifts).



> Written based on the following prompt: _Louis and Harry are in the same Advanced Writing class and Harry doesn't know why he's in the class in the first place and Louis is studying Communication. Louis is tired of falling for straight guys and Harry is really shy but likes to smile at Louis across the lecture hall. Fun college romance ensues?_
> 
> As always, some thank yous are in order. 
> 
> Anna and Stephanie, thanks for making this challenge a thing and all the effort you put into this!
> 
> Alexis, thanks again for being a great beta. Stories always look better when you've read them and I love your comments!
> 
> And last but not least: thanks to Sirensongs for the amazing prompt. As soon as I read this, the idea formed in my head and I was superexcited to get started. The characters seemed to fit together in my head immediately. I hope that, given the past couple of months, it is not an issue that I still incorporated Zayn and Eleanor in the story, they just fit too perfectly to not incorporate them. (and since you mentioned it in the prompt, I'm guessing it won't be a major issue). Anyway, thanks again for the ace prompt, I hope you enjoy reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it!

8AM. Harry Styles groaned as his eyes fell onto the clock above the chalkboard when he walked into the class room. It was Monday morning and he had to drag himself out of bed at the crack of dawn. Just like every week. For a class he wasn’t sure why he was in in the first place. 

Back when he came to enroll at the University of Westminster, it had seemed like a good idea. Despite worries and opposition from his mum, he had enrolled in Commercial Music. Taking an additional Advanced Writing class seemed like a great idea at the time. It would help him in his songwriting and push him to become more creative.

At least, that was what he had told himself at the time. Now, seven months had passed and each time he walked into the class Harry wondered why he was taking it. What he had done wrong to the Universe that it had made him sign up for this class. 

Advanced Writing had turned out to have nothing to do with being creative. Basically they spent most of their time learning how to copy a certain author’s style. Right now they were working on Shakespeare and it bored Harry to no end. 

‘At least things can’t get worse,’ he thought to himself when he walked into class that Monday morning. Of course, he didn’t knock on wood and only later came to realize his mistake. Instead, he briefly glanced across the lecture hall. He was met with a sight that caused a smile to appear on his face instantly.

As soon as the class was seated, Professor Hodgins announced their next assignment. Seven months into the year, the professor had suddenly decided that they needed to learn to work with another. Writers that were able to bounce ideas off each other were better writers, in her opinion. And it was important that they learned to work with someone they might not know very well or might not get along with. So she had decided that for the next two months, they were to work on a duo project. And she would assign the pairs.

Another groan escaped Harry’s mouth. He briefly wondered if they were in secondary again. Writing another essay he would have been able to handle, if only barely. But a duo project? He had few friends and none of them were in this class. With his luck he would end up with someone who didn’t care about his or her education, someone who would freewheel through this assignment on Harry’s back. 

He couldn’t help but glance across the lecture hall again. Because he would never admit this out loud, but there was one person that Harry wouldn’t mind being paired with. Louis Tomlinson. Louis, who was the cool guy with the mysterious tattoos and loads of friends. Louis, who Harry had never talked to but often found himself staring at across the lecture hall. Louis, the pretty boy whose presence always brought a smile to Harry’s face. He wouldn’t mind spending time with Louis at all.

But it was never going happen, so Harry focused his attention on the professor again. She was busy going through the list and Harry’s attention was back just in time to hear her call out, “Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson.”

Harry wasn’t sure if he heard her correctly. He must have not snapped out of his daydream yet. It was only when he glanced over at Louis and found the boy shooting him a smile and a thumbs up that he realized this wasn’t a dream anymore. He just barely managed to give Louis a smile in return. His cheeks burned crimson and he quickly diverted his attention to Professor Hodgins again.

The professor explained the importance of their assignment, pointing out that it would make up 50% of their final grade. She told them they had ten weeks to finish. Harry had to do his best not to beam when he heard that particular information. Ten weeks he would get to spend time with Louis. Maybe this assignment wouldn’t be so bad after all.

After class he patiently waited until Louis strolled out of the room. “Hi, Louis!” he practically yelled when the boy finally emerged. The overly enthusiastic tone of his own voice made him cringe.

If Louis noticed, he didn’t mention it. He simply offered Harry a bright smile in response and said, “Hi, Harry.” He took a seat on the bench Harry was already seated on and continued, “So, are you excited about this assignment? Of course Hodgins would pair the idiot and the genius together, right? So here’s a suggestion: I feel like the least the idiot can do is offer a place to work on this assignment. I mean, the genius will probably have the biggest input, so this way we might be even in the end? And I was thinking that if you don’t have any classes right now, we could start right away?”

Louis rambled. He did that a lot in class too and usually Harry didn’t mind. But now he felt his shoulders slump with each word leaving Louis’ mouth. All the enthusiasm he had had about this assignment got drained from him as Louis spoke. Of course Louis would be nothing like the picture Harry had constructed in his mind. Of course he would be egocentric and think Harry was an idiot. There was a reason Harry never wanted to meet his idols and now he was very tempted to apply that same logic to boys he might be interested in. People always disappointed when compared to the picture in your head.

Harry did his best to not let it show he was offended, but he couldn’t help but be a bit standoffish. The only response he gave Louis was a huff. Then he got up and started walking. Without asking he assumed Louis would follow. 

It was only when he was outside the lecture hall and turned right to start walking to his dorm that he realized his mistake. Because before he could get very far, Louis called out, “Hey, no, my flat is this way!”

The words caused Harry to stop immediately and turn around slowly. He stared at Louis for a moment. Then he quietly questioned, “Your flat?” followed by a simple “Oh…” when the implication of those words hit him. 

At the same moment understanding seemed to dawn on Louis. His eyes grew big and he immediately started rambling again. “Oh, you thought that… God no, I wouldn’t dare to imply that you are an idiot. It would be a blatant lie. I mean, I’ve seen some of your writing and it’s absolute perfection. If only I…”

Harry made a mental note to remember that Louis’ rambling only got worse when he was uncomfortable. As if he couldn’t get any cuter. Then he gently put his hand on Louis’ arm to stop the other boy from talking. “It’s okay,” he assured the boy. “My mistake.”

He refrained from commenting that Louis’ writing wasn’t half bad either, for some reason decided to keep that information to himself a bit longer. Instead, he easily fell into step next to Louis when the boy led the way to his apartment. Small smiles were playing on both their lips the whole way there.

-X-

Harry took a liking to Louis’ flat from the moment he entered it. The flat, the building, the surroundings, it all looked so different from his own tiny dorm and Harry loved it. It actually felt like a home, almost making him feel homesick for his old room in Holmes Chapel. He was more than happy to accept Louis invitation to work on their assignment in there. 

With Louis studying Communication and Harry in Commercial Music, it took them a while to find time in their schedules where they were both free. After a bit of puzzling they managed to find some common free hours after their Advanced Writing class on Mondays as well as Thursdays around dinner time.

They stuck to their schedule the first two weeks, but when the end of the third week rolled around Harry realized he had spent every evening at Louis’ flat that week. He also realized he didn’t mind one bit. 

Because that theory Harry had about never meeting your idols? It didn’t apply to boys he might be interested in after all. It definitely didn’t apply to Louis. Louis, who was everything Harry ever imagined him to be and so much more. He was funny, charming and not hard on the eyes. Also a lot more intelligent than he gave himself credit for. And without even asking he was able to make them a steaming hot cup of tea, just like Harry preferred it.

They worked on the assignment as much as they could. But despite what they both thought, the boys were both quite good, amongst the best of their class. So the assignment progressed quickly and with all the time they had been spending together there was quite some time for small talk. They could take the time to get to know each other. Louis talked about how much he loved his younger sisters and he missed seeing the Doncaster Rovers, his favorite football team. Harry told tales about growing up with an older sister and how he used to work in a bakery when he was in sixth form.

On Friday evening they decided to order take out. Harry almost couldn’t hide his smile when they both simultaneously voted for Chinese. One more thing they had in common.

The smile eventually fought his way to Harry’s face anyway. When they were enjoying their food, Louis started raving about this awesome band he had seen last weekend. He insisted they were awesome and that Harry needed to check them out. And in the moment that Harry promised to check them out, it hit him how much he liked this. The banter, the small talk, the time spend with Louis. He could definitely get used to spending all of his free time with Louis. 

Again, Harry forgot to knock on wood. And as soon as the thought formed in his mind, the door of the flat suddenly flew open and a boy around their age, with big dark eyes and a tanned skin came barging in. “Vas happenin’, Tommo?” were the first words that escaped his mouth.

Before Louis or Harry got a chance to react, the boy spotted Harry and effortlessly continued, “Oh hey, you must be Harry, right? Louis mentioned something about a project you guys are working on. Nice to meet you!”

He shot a smile to Harry, who did his best to match the facial expression. But even without seeing it, Harry knew his came out crooked. He felt so stupid all of a sudden. Of course someone like Louis would not be single anymore. Harry wanted to kick himself for getting his hopes up. 

He didn’t get much time to pity himself though, as the boy, whose name Harry still didn’t know, turned his attention to Louis and said, “I didn’t expect him to still be here though. You should be getting ready for tonight. Don’t tell me you have forgotten about the party.”

“Don’t talk about Harry like he isn’t in the room, Zayn,” Louis scolded the other boy. 

Harry felt a little better when Louis stuck up for him, but he didn’t miss how Louis turned bright red after the boy with the pretty name mentioned a party. He realized Louis was only trying to win time by scolding the other boy when Louis admitted, “But yeah, I kind of totally forgot about the party.”

“How could you forget? Liam has been going on about this for weeks! Start of term break, party of the year?”

Zayn sounded exasperated, but Louis merely shrugged and said, “I’ve been busy lately, it slipped my mind.” Zayn let out a snort and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could Louis had already turned to Harry and asked, “I know we wanted to finish this part after dinner, but I guess we can always do it after the break, right?”

Harry had been so focused on his self pity that he flushed bright red when the attention turned to him again. “Uhm… Yeah. Yeah, sure, no problem.” He cursed himself when he heard the whine clearly audible in his voice. He really shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up about Louis like this.

He knew the other two boys didn’t miss the whiny tone in his voice when they looked at each other. A silent conversation took place between them and Harry found himself hoping that one day he’d have a boyfriend who would be able to understand him like that, without words. 

He got pulled from his thoughts when Louis spoke again. “Awesome, we’ll call it a night than on the assignment. But hey, why don’t you join us at the party?” Louis clearly did his best to keep his tone light and casual. As if his question wasn’t a result of his wordless conversation with Zayn. Yet, for some reason that Harry didn’t quite grasp, a crimson color appeared on his cheeks. 

Harry wanted to go, he actually did. The thought of not seeing Louis for an entire week was pretty unbearable. He wanted to spend more time with Louis, even though that was probably the worst idea ever. He wanted to be a normal uni kid for once and attend a party. He wanted to say yes. But then an image flashed through his mind. Louis and Zayn, entwined in an embrace and lips firmly locked together. The last thing he wanted was to actually witness such a situation in real life. The thought alone caused him to mutter quietly, “I don’t want to intrude on anything.” Staring at his hands, he added, “Plus, I’m not exactly dressed for the occasion.”

“Nonsense, you won’t be intruding at all! Half the campus will probably be there anyway,” Louis assured him. Harry noticed he sounded insistent and eager to convince Harry. When he looked up, Louis was staring at him with hopeful eyes. 

The last thing Harry wanted to do was disappoint Louis. He found he just wasn’t able to. So although he knew it was probably coming back to bite him in the ass later, Harry nodded and squeezed out a quiet, “I guess I could, but my clothes-“

He didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence, as Zayn was already pulling him to his feet while mentioning, “Those clothes, we can totally help you with that!” 

He shared another look with Louis, who nodded while a smile appeared on his face, and then both boys were dragging Harry towards the door. Before Harry could protest, they were already in the hallway and Zayn had started persistently knocking on the door across from theirs.

When the door opened, it revealed a petite girl their age. She shot the boys a warm smile while greeting them, “My boys! How can I help you tonight?”

Harry might have jumped a bit in surprise when Louis’ hand, which was still on his arm, lightly pinched his lower arm to get his attention. “Harry, this is Eleanor. She is a good friend of ours. She studies Fashion.” 

Louis turned to Eleanor, but Harry registered how his hand never left his arm. He did his best to remind himself that Louis was already taken and to not get his hopes up. “Eleanor, this is Harry. He’s coming with us to Liam’s party tonight, but he insists he’s not dressed for the occasion.”

Harry blushed when Eleanor gave him a quick once over and he saw her brow curl in dismay at the sight of his ratty shirt and loose jeans. His cheeks only turned crimson further when she exclaimed, “You’ve come to the right place. Get in here!”

-X-

Eleanor had dragged Harry in, shouted, “Out, you two! Let me work my magic on this boy and you’ll be pleasantly surprised later!” and almost slammed the door in Zayn and Louis’ faces. 

Before Harry had time to take in what appeared to be the living room, Eleanor had already dragged him into another room. It looked like it was originally designated to be bedroom, but Eleanor seemed to have turned it into a home studio. There was fabric everywhere, two mannequins, a sewing machine in the corner and racks full of finished clothes. Eleanor motioned for Harry to go sit in the only chair in the room.

As soon as she started rummaging through the racks of clothes, she started muttering to herself. Harry thought she had forgotten all about him, until after a minute or two she called out from between two racks, “So you are the infamous Harry? Louis can’t shut up about you.”

Harry felt his breathing stutter and his heart skip a beat when Eleanor’s words reached him. Had Louis really been talking about him? As soon as the thought crossed his mind he wanted to slap himself. Louis was taken, he shouldn’t get any illusions in his head. He only hummed in response to Eleanor’s question, confirming it, but not daring to ask any questions in return.

While Eleanor kept rummaging through the clothes, she kept talking to Harry. She seemed genuinely interested and wanted to know about his life at campus, his family, his hobbies. After a while she started handing him pieces of clothing to try on. All the while she kept the conversation going. 

Harry obediently tried on every piece she handed him, while answering Eleanor’s questions. Somewhere around the fifth shirt he tried on he started asking her questions in return. He was curious how a girl that seemed so different from the guys across the hall had become friends with them. 

Eleanor explained that she had practically known Louis since birth. Their moms had brought them to the same day care and they’d been inseparable since. “We’ve always been friends,” she said. Then, after a giggle left her mouth, as if she remembered something funny, she added, “We tried the dating thing a year or two ago. But that didn’t last long. It was during that time Louis realized he was gay and we decided we obviously were better off as friends.” 

She handed Harry another pair of pants to try and then continued, “I met Zayn through Louis. We were all first years last year. My parents set me up in this flat but Louis stayed in the dorms. That’s where they met; Zayn lived in the same building. They clicked almost immediately. They were both fed up with the dorms soon and started looking for a place together. I informed them that the place across the hall from me was empty and a week later they were moving in.”

“So Louis got the flat and the boyfriend all at the same time? Lucky guy!” The words left Harry’s mouth before he got time to think about it. He felt a blush creep onto his cheeks, because he recognized he sounded more than a bit jealous. He really needed to get a grip on his emotions again.

After he spoke, Eleanor finally tore her attention away from her racks of clothes. She stared at him in silence for a moment. And then, much to Harry’s surprise, she laughed out loud. “What’s so funny?” he immediately wanted to know.

Still laughing, Eleanor turned to the rack in front of her and grabbed a white shirt with black palm trees from it. “Just that… Here, try this one…,” she said when handing Harry the shirt. “Just that you think Louis and Zayn are an item. They might be both gay, but they’re just friends, mate.”

She seemed to give Harry a moment to contemplate her words and then she added, “Your gaydar is just as bad as Louis’, it seems.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Harry wasn’t sure whether he should be offended by Eleanor’s statement or just confused.

Eleanor didn’t seem bother by his outburst. She simply shrugged and explained, “Well, aren’t gays supposed to recognize each other? Like you guys have a sixth sense for each other or something? Yet Louis somehow always ends up falling for straight guys.”

She looked away from the racks of clothes for a minute. She stared at Harry in silence, as if she was contemplating how much she could tell him. Then she went on, “You do realize that is the only reason why he hasn’t hit on you yet, right?” She rolled her eyes when Harry stared at her in surprise. “Of course you haven’t realized that. Like I said, gaydar my ass. But so yeah, that’s the reason. He thinks you are straight and he is determined to not fall for another straight guy.”

After that Eleanor didn’t say anymore. Silence fell over the room and Harry, not sure how he could or should react to such a revelation, was left to contemplate Eleanor’s words. The next half hour neither said very much. Their time was spent with Eleanor handing Harry different clothing items and him trying them on. When she was finally satisfied with his look – Harry had to admit that the black skinny jeans and the button down left open until halfway his chest looked like they were made for him – Harry still hadn’t been able to wrap his head around her statement about Louis. He just couldn’t get the words out of his head.

-X-

By the time Eleanor gave Harry her seal of approval and had gotten herself ready for the party, two hours had passed. Zayn was in such a hurry to get to the party, which, Harry learned on their way over, was thrown by Zayn’s boyfriend, that Harry almost missed the way Louis gave him a once over when he stepped back into the boys’ flat. He also almost but not quite missed how Louis turned beet red when he realized Harry had seen him checking him out. All the while Eleanor’s words resonated in the back of Harry’s mind. Suddenly going to a party with Louis didn’t seem like a bad idea after all.

Harry was so distracted by all the thoughts swirling in his head that he barely made it into the house when he bumped into someone. “Hey, watch it!” a familiar sounding voice yelled, immediately followed by, “Haz! What on earth are you doing here? You are the last person I would expect to show up here!”

It turned out Harry had bumped into Niall Horan, one of his few real friends on campus. Before he could get out any sort of greeting, however, Niall had already turned his back on Harry and yelled, “Hey Grimmy, look who showed up!”

Harry should have known that if Niall was there, Nick Grimshaw would also be there. He was more than happy to see them though, since they were his best friends, some of his few friends. Having Niall and Grimmy around made him feel a bit less out of place.

His heart skipped a beat when Harry thought that maybe at the end of their assignment, he could consider Louis a friend too. Or maybe something more, if Eleanor was right. But then again, Harry knew he would never dare to take the first step and Louis still seemed convinced he was straight.

But before Harry had too much time to think about that, he was pulled into a hug by his two friends together and a chorus of “good to see you, mate!” and “It’ll do yah good, meeting some new people,” resonated around him.

When the boys finally released him, Grimmy was curious enough to ask, “So, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to spend the night working on that assignment you had for… what was it again, Advanced Writing?”

Harry nodded in confirmation. Then, to be heard over the music, he yelled, “I was. Or we were. But then Louis kind of dragged me here.” 

He had to do his very best to understand, but focusing on Niall’s lips and the sound of his voice barely audible over the loud thumping music, Harry heard Niall ask, “Louis Tomlinson?” When he nodded in confirmation, a small smirk appeared on Niall’s lips. “Now that sure is interesting…”

Harry stared at Niall for a moment, but when nothing else, no explanation followed, he couldn’t help but ask, “What is that even supposed to mean, mate?” 

Eleanor’s words still resonated in his mind and it made him uncomfortable that Niall seemed to be hinting at something similar. Harry felt he was constantly behind on things and that other people saw things he didn’t.

When Niall responded with a dismissive, “Nothing, nothing…” Harry took the opportunity to glance across the room to see if he could find out where Louis had gone. He wanted to make sure he wasn’t missing anything obvious.

Before he had time to locate Louis, however, Grimmy was already pushing a bottle of beer in his hands. Harry didn’t have time to object, because in the next moment Grimmy had grabbed a boy who happened to be passing by and practically shoved him into Harry’s direction. “Have you met Liam yet? He interns at the same radio station as me. And he’s in Niall’s Social Studies class.”

Harry nodded politely at the boy, shot him a small smile and extended his hand in greeting. “Liam,” he repeated after Grimmy. “You are throwing the party, right? It’s very nice to meet you. Sorry for crashing your party.”

Liam glanced at Harry’s hand for a few seconds and the next moment he had slapped it to the side and was pulling Harry into a tight hug. Harry wasn’t sure whether he was a bit too drunk already, or if he was just cuddly all the time. But it was definitely a good hug. Liam seemed to be a pro at cuddling and Harry decided it must just be him and not the alcohol that had pulled Harry into an embrace. 

His thoughts got confirmed when Liam released him and spoke without even the slightest hesitation, stumble or slur in his voice. “No problem, mate!” He was not only a pro at hugging, Harry noted, but super enthusiastic as well. He decided he already like this guy. “No problem at all. Zayn already told me that you came here with Louis.”

Again with the strange, suggestive undertone when Louis was mentioned. This time Harry didn’t bother asking what that was all about. Although he’d only met Liam minutes ago, he had a feeling his answer would be as vague as Niall’s had been. So instead he just nodded in confirmation. “Yeah, Louis dragged me along.” He added an exaggerated eye roll for good measure and was rewarded with a laugh from Liam. 

Smile etched on his face, Liam started a conversation with Harry. And Harry did his best to listen, he really did. He tried to pay attention to Liam and answer the boy’s questions, throw some of his own into the conversation. But at the same time, he couldn’t help but let his eyes wander the room. 

It had been twenty minutes at most since they entered the party. And while Harry could see Eleanor talking to a taller, but just as pretty brunette girl and he found Zayn hovering behind Liam, he had lost sight of Louis almost immediately after entering the house. And despite his friends being in close proximity and Liam not being hostile the least, Harry couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable. He wanted to know where Louis was, what he was doing. It almost felt like withdrawal symptoms, even after such a short amount of time apart. This little crush might be a bit more problematic than Harry had anticipated. 

When he finally spotted Louis, the older boy was plastered all over some ginger boy. It immediately caused a rush of jealousy in Harry’s chest. He didn’t even know the boy, but he hated him already. Just because Louis was all over him. 

However, upon closer inspection he couldn’t help but realize that Eleanor had been right in her assumption about Louis earlier that evening. Because even though according to her his gaydar was subpar as well, even Harry could clearly tell that this boy was not exactly reciprocating Louis advances. ‘As straight as they come,’ he thought.

It was a surprisingly satisfying and comforting thought and his jealousy soon started fading. When Louis turned around suddenly and raised his beer in Harry’s general direction when he noticed Harry looking at him, Harry didn’t even blush. He mimicked the gesture and shot Louis a bright smile before taking the first sip of his beer.

-X-

One sip of beer had quickly turned into a sip to calm him down each time Louis glanced at him into a bottle into five bottles into losing count at some point during the evening. At some point Harry had also decided that beer really didn’t taste as bad as he had anticipated. He got another one to reward himself for coming to that conclusion.

It was only when he woke up the next morning that he realized maybe beer wasn’t so awesome after all. His head was pounding. As soon as he opened his eyes the light was too bright and the room started spinning. A room that, upon closer inspection, turned out to not be his own bedroom. 

The realization that he had not gotten home after the party twisted Harry’s stomach in knots. When he sat up, looked around and came to the conclusion that he was at Louis and Zayn’s place, he only felt worse. Especially when it hit him that he was in Louis’ bed. Wearing nothing but his boxers.

Harry racked his brain in search of memories of how he got home, but he had no recollection of even leaving the party. The last thing he remembered was basically being plastered across Louis’ lap on some couch, chatting happily with the older boy. The thought made him groan out loud and he felt like hyperventilating at the thought of what might have happened last night. 

It wasn’t that he didn’t want anything to happen between Louis and him. On the contrary. It was just that he preferred to be sober during whatever might happen, or at least have the slightest memory of it.

He was still breathing heavily when a voice from across the room sounded, “Hey there, pretty boy.”

Harry could hear the grin on Louis’ face before he saw it and it caused a blush to become present on his own cheeks. Tentatively, he turned his head in the direction of the voice. The room didn’t spin anymore and he was rewarded with a clear view of the bright smile that was indeed playing on Louis’ lips. With the blush still on his own cheeks, he quietly muttered, “Hi…”

When he winced because even the quiet sound of his own voice still sounded too loud, Louis’ smile only grew bigger. “There is some water and paracetamol on the night stand,” the boy said. He spoke a lot quieter than Harry was used to from him and emphasized his words with a nod in the direction of the low cabinet left of Harry. “I have a feeling you can use them.”

“Thanks,” Harry mumbled. He shot Louis an appreciative smile before turning to the nightstand and grabbing the glass and the pills. 

Silence filled the room while Harry swallowed the pills. He could feel Louis watching him from the doorway. The eyes staring at him didn’t feel uncomfortable, but the fact that he had no idea why they were staring like that did. He needed to know what happened the night before. 

So after swallowing the remainder of the water, he finally looked up at Louis again. “So uhm… Did we… I mean…” His hand nervously racked through his hair while he tried to find the right words. “Last night… Did something…

Every sentence he tried to form ran off into nothingness before it had properly started. Hopelessly he glanced back over at Louis. Much to his relief a small smile was still playing on Louis lips. Of course Louis would understand what he was trying to say.

“No worries, no worries. You were far too drunk for anything to have happened last night,” Louis assured him easily. “I promised Nialler and Grimmy to get you home safely,” he started to explain. Harry immediately grew fond of how Louis had adopted the use of nicknames for Harry’s friends. “But all too soon I realized we would never make it to your dorm, so I dragged you here instead. I went into the kitchen for two minutes to fetch you a glass of water. And when I came back you were undressed down to your boxers and asleep in the middle of my bed. You’re lucky that Zayn was staying with Liam, I just crashed in his bed.”

“Oh.” The one syllable sounded all wrong in Harry’s ears as soon as it escaped his lips. He didn’t understand how two letters could sound so needy. Yet at the same time, he felt they didn’t express his neediness enough.

Whether they did express it or not, Louis still picked up on the emotion in Harry’s voice. He grinned out loud. When Harry looked at him, he raised an eyebrow and asked, “You almost sound like you are disappointed, Styles.”

“I… Well…” 

As he felt his cheeks turns a dark crimson, Harry cursed his vocal cords for not cooperating at all this morning. He stared down at his fingers, taking a few deep breaths. Then he looked at up at Louis, who still stood in the doorway leaning against the frame. A gentle smile etched on his face. And memories flashed through Harry’s mind. Bantering over their assignment and each other’s music taste. Chinese food. The blush on Louis cheeks when Harry had first appeared in his new outfit last night. Feeling warm and comfortable pressed against Louis.

And as the memories flooded his mind, Harry decided that this was it. He wasn’t sure whether it was the alcohol still in his system or his hormones going in overdrive, but he suddenly felt there was no backing out of this one. That there might not be an opportunity like this ever again. 

Another deep breath, and then he said against his hands, “Here’s the thing, Louis: I like you. I like you a lot. And that sucks. Because I have to work with you on this project. And spending time with you, it feels so good and I learned that you are even more amazing than I thought. And the way you work on this with me and the way you are around your friends and how you always get my tea exactly right… It’s so wonderful. And at the same time it’s so maddening because it only makes me see how you already have this cool life with these great people in it and there’s no way you would ever go for a guy like me.”

Once the words started steaming past his lips, Harry found it difficult to stop. Only when the one deep breath he had taken ran out, he stopped. A deafening silence followed his confession. He squirmed uncomfortably on the bed. 

No reaction came from Louis, but Harry didn’t dare to look up at him. He stared at his hands, his chipped nails, the little freckle on his thumb. When the silence became unbearable, Harry whispered, “Maybe I should just go now.”

The words had barely left Harry’s mouth when Louis finally reacted. He laughed. He actually laughed and it caused Harry chest to clench together. The laugh hurt Harry, like Louis was laughing at him, not with him. 

When Harry did look up at Louis again, he was surprised to find the expression on the boy’s face had changed. There was no playfulness anymore, but no spitefulness either. Louis expression was softer now, for reasons Harry did not understand. Not until Louis spoke up. 

“You know, I really wasn’t joking when we first met and I said I thought you were a genius,” Louis started. It caused a frown to appear on Harry’s face. He appreciated the gesture, Louis’ kindness, he just wasn’t sure why Louis was bringing this up at this exact moment. He didn’t understand how this had anything to do with the current situation. 

“Everything makes sense when you speak in class. I could listen to you talk all the time. Not only in class. But you should totally talk in class all the time because that’s the only way I can focus.” Louis’ voice sounded urgent now. Harry noticed the soft expression was still present on his face, but there was something else. He looked eager to make sure Harry understood what he was saying, the meaning he was aiming at with his words. “When Hodgins is talking I am never able to pay attention. And that’s your fault. I try so hard, but every time I get distracted by the pretty smiles that are always playing on your lips.”

Oh. Louis thought he had a pretty smile. In the back of his mind Harry realized his mouth was slightly agape. But before he could do anything about it, Louis was suddenly taking up Harry’s full attention again. With a few strides he moved from the doorway to sitting besides Harry on the bed. 

He grabbed Harry’s hands, holding them tightly in his own when he continued, “You have no idea how much I have been pining after you all year. As soon as you walked into that class, 8AM on Monday morning suddenly didn’t seem so dreadful anymore. The minute I laid eyes on you I wanted to get to know you, hang out with you. I loved Hodgins for pairing us together on this assignment and I hated her at the same time. Because hanging out with you has been everything I could have ever wished for and more. But I also kind of totally thought you were straight and I didn’t want to set myself up for disappointment again.”

Louis stopped talking when he ran out of breath. He was the one staring at his hands, their hands, now and that way he completely missed the small smile now playing on Harry’s lips. 

Harry hadn’t missed the implication of Louis’ words. They had basically confessed their love for each other in the past few minutes, but he couldn’t help himself. He wanted to leave Louis hanging for just a little while. Louis hadn’t been very forthcoming earlier and two could play that game. So, with a voice full of curiosity, he asked, “When did you realize I wasn’t straight?”

Louis kept staring at their hands, but Harry didn’t miss the blush that appeared on his cheeks. He almost had to strain to not miss the whispered, “Niall might have pointed out that you weren’t at the party last night.”

The confession caused Harry to let out a giggle. And there he had thought he was clueless! He felt giddy all of a sudden. Lightheaded and all traces of a hangover gone. Confident enough to tease, “Yeah, when I was at Eleanor’s last night, she mentioned you have awful gaydar.”

There was a pause in the conversation. Louis was still staring down at their hands and Harry hadn’t missed that which each word he spoke, the blush on the other boy’s cheeks became more prominent. 

Harry decided he had teased Louis long enough now. He entwined their hands and admitted in a whisper, “But then again, I wasn’t much better. I thought you were dating Zayn. So I guess we’re both idiots, huh?”

When silence fell around them, Louis finally looked up at Harry again. They stared at each other in silence for a few moments. Harry gave Louis an encouraging smile. And then, out of nowhere, Louis was laughing. Loud, real, happy laughter filled the room. And Harry couldn’t do anything else then join him. 

When their laughter died down again, Harry immediately noticed how Louis got instantly nervous again. He looked everywhere besides at Harry.

Harry had known this before, but once again it became clear that Louis was an obvious case of big mouth small heart. He realized that if he wanted something to happen he would have to take the first step. And he definitely wanted something to happen. 

So instead of waiting any longer, Harry’s left hand let go of Louis’ hands and moved to the boy’s cheek instead. Four fingers plastered against the soft skin of Louis’ face and the thumb hooked under his chin. Gently, he forced Louis’ face so that he had to look at Harry. 

Their eyes met and if Harry had had any doubts, the look in Louis’ eyes took those away completely. There was hope. And longing too. And Harry was sure those emotions were mirrored in his own eyes. 

He leaned in closer, keeping Louis’ face firmly in place with one hand and pinching Louis’ hands in reassurance with the other. “Just for the record,” he whispered against Louis’ skin, “I kept smiling at you all year because I was pining after you too.” And then he closed the gap between their lips.

Thirty minutes later, their lips were still firmly attached to each other. Somewhere along the way they had somehow moved out of the bedroom and ended up on the living room couch. Harry was still in his boxers and he had a distant memory of claiming it wasn’t fair that he was half naked and Louis fully clothed. Which is why Louis shirt was lost somewhere during their trip from the bedroom to the couch. They were so focused on one another that neither heard the door of the flat open.

“Oh my god! So fucking gross! Get a room!” 

Louis and Harry were so enthralled by each other they only broke apart when Zayn started yelling. Matching blushes took root on their cheeks, which Zayn completely missed because he had covered his eyes with his hands immediately after seeing the happy pair smooching on the couch. “I’ll be at Eleanor’s if you need me,” he announced blindly in the pair’s general direction. Then, as an afterthought he added, “And by getting a room I do NOT mean my room, Tommo!”

Neither Harry nor Louis responded, but they did curiously follow Zayn’s blind movements. After a few seconds Harry opened his mouth in warning, but Louis index finger on his lips stopped him from saying anything. They both burst out into giggles when Zayn walked straight into the door frame.

Moments later the door slammed closed behind a cursing Zayn. When their giggling subsided, Harry and Louis could hear him knock on the door across the hall and loudly announce, “El, open up! You’ll never believe what I just stumbled upon in our flat!”

“Should we tell him that El came by earlier to see if I wanted to grab a coffee and left on her own when I declined the offer?” Louis wondered when he turned away from the closed door to face Harry again.

“Nah, he’ll figure it out soon enough,” Harry said with a shrug. A small smile appeared on his lips when he added, “Besides, Zayn’s the least of my worries right now.”

Louis knew he shouldn’t bite, that he was making things to easy for Harry. Yet he couldn’t help but ask, “So what are you worrying about then?”

With a grin like the Cheshire cat, Harry easily replied, “About how my lips are not getting the attention they deserve.” To add strength to his words he puckered his lips at Louis in expectation. 

Louis giggled like a little schoolgirl at the sight, but after replying with, “I might be able to help you with that,” he was more than happy to oblige to Harry’s request.

‘And maybe,’ Harry thought with a smile on his face, his lips pressed firmly against Louis’ and his hands lost in Louis’ hair, ‘maybe the Universe had had an excellent reason to make him sign up for that Advanced Writing class after all.’


End file.
